Rev. 21. 4.

23.

Rev. 22. 3. 4.

God, and shall wipe away all tears from their eyes and there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, no crying, nor pain, for the former things are passed away. And the city needeth not the sun, or the moon to shine in it, for the glory of God doth lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof. The throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and his servants shall serve him, and shall see his face, who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings, and 1 Tim. 6. 15. Lord of lords: Of him, through him, and to him, are Rom. 11. 36. all things: To whom be glory for ever.

Amen.

END OF THE REFORMED LITURGY.

528

MR. BAXTER'S

SENSE OF THE ARTICLES

OF THE

CHURCH OF ENGLAND:

IN ANSWER TO THE SCRUPLES PROPOSED TO HIM BY SOME THAT WERE CALLED UPON TO SUBSCRIBE THEM.

I TAKE not this form of words, called The Articles of the Church of England, to be essential to the said church; nor any thing in them to be essential to the Christian religion, which was not so from its beginning, and in the first ages of Christianity, yea, and in every following age: nor do I take such form or matter to be instead of the Scripture and the ancient Creeds, a necessary rule of Divine faith, or necessary to the being of ministry, membership, and communion in the Church of England: But that they were, subordinate to the Scriptures and the said creeds, a laudable profession of this church at the Reformation; that they misexpounded not the Divine rule by any heresy, thereby to promote our communion with other reformed churches, and to guide novices at home in the exposition of the said rule : far be it from us to be of a religion and church which is of no older date than the said Articles or Common Prayer. But holding, with excellent Augustine, that contra rationem nemo sobrius, et contra Scripturam nemo Christianus,' so also that 'contra ecclesiam nemo pacificus;' (the church still being supposed to be for reason and Scripture, sober and Christian;) and wishing that God's own word were taken for the sufficient terms of our consent and concord in order to union and communion, and knowing that the ambiguity of words, and our common imperfection in the art of speaking, do leave an uncertainty in the sense of most hu

man writings till explained, and yet supposing that the authors of these Articles meant them orthodoxly, that I may not seem needlessly scrupulous, I subscribe them, and that I may not be unconscionably rash in subscribing, I here tell all whom it may concern, how I understand the words which I subscribe.

ART. 11. A Sacrifice for all the sin of man, original and actual.] Though 'omníbus' be also in the Latin, all is left out in King James's edition. I suppose they meant not, for any man's final predominant impenitence, infidelity, atheism or unholiness;' but for all sorts of sin, on condition of faith and repentance, actually pardoning them to penitent believers.

ART. III. He went down into hell.] That is, into hades, the state of separated souls of which see Archbishop Usher's Answer to the Jesuits.

:

ART. IV. Took again his body with flesh and bones, and all things appertaining to the perfection of man's nature, wherewith he ascended into heaven, and there sitteth, &c.]

That is, he sitteth in heaven with the same body glorified, which was flesh and bones on earth, and catachrestically is by some so called, now it is a celestial, incorruptible, spiritual, glorious body; but indeed is not now the same thing which we call formally flesh, bones, or blood, nor will admit of the same definition. For, 1. The Scripture saith plainly, that "flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God." (1 Cor. xv. 50.) "There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body." (ver. 43, 44.) The context sheweth that it is not moral sinful corruption that is called flesh and blood here, but that natural corruptibility which flesh and blood hath. See Hammond on the text.

Christ's body will not be worse than ours, (but ours made like to his, Phil. iii. 20.) But ours shall not be flesh, blood, and bones.

2. When there is not the same form or definition, there is not to be the same proper formal denomination: but no sober philosopher or physician ever gave such a definition of flesh, blood, or bones as will truly agree with Christ's glorified body: the name therefore can be but equivocal.

3. There is a symmetry in God's works, Christ being in his glorified humanity advanced above angels in power, is

not below them in natural perfection: his spiritual, celestial body is congruous to his soul; and all the angels obey and worship him. When we are the children of the resurrection, we shall be equal to the angels, and neither marry nor die; and so not have bodies of mortal constitution. I dare not say that the sun or light is a more glorious body than Christ's; nor encourage those disputers that ask how many feet long and broad his body is, or the place that containeth it.

4. I dàre not incur the guilt of contradicting two General Councils in a matter of faith, when they anathematize the Dissenters, and agree therein, though disagreeing in other things, and pleading the tradition of the Fathers, and the Scripture.

The seventh General Council at C. P. under Const. Copion. condemning image-worship, saith, (as Binnius translateth it,) p. 378. Defin. 7. Siquis non confessus fuerit Dominum nostrum Jesum Christum post assumptionem animatæ rationalis et intellectualis carnis, simul sedere cum Deo et Patre, atque ita quoque rursus venturum cum Paterna Majestate, judicaturum vivos et mortuos, non amplius quidem carnem, neque incorporeum tamen, ut videatur ab iis à quibus compunctus est, et maneat Deus extra crassitudinem carnis, anathema."

To which saith the second Nicene (their adversaries) by Epiphanius, 'Huc usque rectè sentiunt et Patrum traditionibus consentientiæ dicunt.'

5. The long church-divisions, which have for 1300 years followed the rash determinations about some dark invisible things, maketh me more inclined to suspend, than rashly to affirm, in doubtful cases, especially about God, and Jesus Christ.

6. It is not the perfection of glorified humanity to be flesh and bones.

7. I cannot say, that earth (as flesh and bones are) dwells in ethereal regions.

ART. VI. Holy Scripture containeth all things necessary to salvation] I consent: therefore if the ministry, sacraments, and church-communion be necessary to salvation, the Scripture containeth all necessary to them.

IBID. In the name of the holy Scriptures we understand

those canonical books of the Old and New Testament, of whose authority was never any doubt in the church.]

Expos. Not excluding the epistle to the Hebrews; James; 2 Peter; Jude; 2 and 3 John; Revelation, which divers churches long doubted of.

ART. VII. The civil precepts thereof (the law given from God by Moses) ought not of necessity to be received in any commonwealth.]

Expos. Civilia sunt præcepta quæ dantur ad regendas civitates (seu societates civiles)' God's laws are the supreme civil laws; man's laws are but by-laws (such as Corporations make under the laws of the land), about things mutable, left undetermined by God, and subordinate to his laws. God hath two sorts of civil laws: First, such as are universal or common to all Christian nations at least: as, that there shall be rulers and subjects; that rulers obey and promote the laws of God and the kingdom of Christ, and do nothing against them; that they seek the common good, and rule in righteousness, and be a terror to evil works, and encourage piety and virtue and peace; that they restrain blasphemy, perjury, profaneness, murder, adultery, theft, false witness, and false judging, &c. These civil laws bind all nations, as the law of nature; and all Christian nations, as the law of Christ but not as the laws of Moses promulgate to the Jews. 2. But there are also particular civil laws that were proper to the Jews' commonwealth in specie: I suppose the article meaneth these, and includeth the former in the word moral laws though indeed they be the most eminent civil laws.

ART. VIII. The three Creeds, viz, Nice Creed, Athanasius' Creed, and that commonly called the Apostles' Creed, ought thoroughly to be received and believed. (omnino.]

Expos. Rightly understood: viz. 1. That by God of God, very God of very God, be not meant two Gods: 2. Nor the damnatory clauses taken for part of Athanasius' Creed, though they be part of the Liturgy assented and consented to. ART. IX. This infection of nature doth remain even in them that are regenerate.]

Expos. That is, in a mortified, subdued degree, but not predominant, or unpardoned.

ART. X. We have no power (nihil valemus), viz. Qur natural powers or faculties are not sufficient without grace.